You should:
Seek Medical Treatment
Seek medical treatment if necessary.
- Except for emergency cases, the health care provider who treats you must be authorized by the Workers' Compensation Board to treat injured workers.
- Advise your health care providers that you have a work-related injury, and give the name of your employer.
- Do not pay your health care provider or hospital or use other health insurance for treatment received for this injury/illness. Medical bills and medically necessary drugs and equipment¹ your health care provider prescribes are paid by your employer or their workers' compensation insurance carrier.
- You may also be reimbursed for mileage, public transportation or other necessary expenses incurred for treatment. Make sure that you obtain receipts for those expenses.
Notify Your Supervisor of Your Injury
Written notification should be provided to your employer as soon as possible, but within 30 days. If you fail to notify your employer, within 30 days after the date of injury, you may lose your rights to workers' compensation benefits.
File a Claim
You should file an Employee Claim (Form C-3) reporting your injury to the Board as soon as possible.
- You must notify the Board of your injury or illness within two years. [Reporting requirements for an Occupational Disease]
If you injured the same body part before, or had a similar illness, you must also file a Limited Release of Health Information (Form C-3.3).
Returning to Work
Sometimes you need help getting back to work. Your employer may have alternative or light duty assignments that enable you to work while you heal. An injury can also cause family or financial problems. The Board has vocational rehabilitation counselors and social workers to help.
Your Employer
Within 10 days of your notification of Injury/Illness
Your employer must notify their insurance carrier within 10 days of the injury or illness if you require medical treatment beyond first aid or have lost at least one day from work other than the date the injury or illness occurred.
The Insurance Carrier
Within 14 days of employer's notification of Injury/Illness
The insurer provides you with a written Statement of Rights (Form C-430S) and any requirements for using pharmacy or diagnostic testing networks Notice That Claimant Must Arrange for Diagnostic Tests & Examinations through a Network Provider (Form DT-1). This must be done within 14 days after notification of the injury/illness from your employer or with the first check, whichever is earlier.
Within 18 days of notification of Injury/Illness
The insurer begins the payment of benefits if lost time exceeds seven days. Insurers will often accept a claim and promptly begin paying benefits. However, an insurer can dispute a claim for various reasons. To contest a claim, an insurer must notify you and file a notice of controversy with the Board within 18 days after the disability begins or within 10 days of learning of the injury/illness, whichever is later. It must give the reasons why the claim is not being paid.
Every 2 weeks
You will continue to receive payments for benefits every two weeks during your disability period, The insurer must notify you and the Board if payments are changed or stopped.
The Workers' Compensation Board
Notices of Assembly and Indexing
When the Board receives notification that you have been injured or made ill on the job, the Board will send you and other interested parties* a notice that a case has been created and assigned a unique case number.
When you receive the notice, please take a moment to review. It contains important information about your case and your rights and responsibilities. If this information is not correct or if it changes, please contact the Board.
If there are no issues requiring the Board's involvement and you have not lost any time from work, you will not hear from the Board again unless an issue arises about your claim.
* The parties in your claim are you, your employer and your employer's workers' compensation insurance carrier.
During the Course of Your Claim
Request for Further Action
If you wish to request action from the Workers' Compensation Board about an issue regarding your claim, you can file a Request for Assistance by Injured Worker (Form RFA-1W). If you have an attorney they may file a Request for Further Action by Legal Counsel (Form RFA-1LC) on your behalf. The Board will then notify you about the steps necessary to resolve the issue.
eCase
You can view the information the Board has received about your claim or see the status of your claim using eCase, the Board's secure web-based application.
Learn about the different ways a claim can be resolved.
Electronic Signatures for Claimants Are Not Permitted
The Workers' Compensation Board does not accept a claimant's electronic signature on Board-prescribed forms, as the Board is unable to efficiently evaluate the electronic signature process used by a carrier, medical provider, attorney, or licensed representative to ensure that the procedure complies with the New York Electronic Signatures and Records Act (ESRA) and applicable regulations. Therefore, a claimant's ink signature must be supplied when a claimant's signature is required by law, including on the OC-110a, OC-400, OC-400.1, OC-300.5, and C-32 forms.
Contact the Board
Customer Service Toll-Free Number: (877) 632-4996
Monday through Friday - 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Language Assistance Services
Please call us at (877) 632-4996 for free language assistance services.
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